I’m coming up short on the netflix queue lately, so I’m turning to you all to help.
I’m looking for movies that are either comedies or good dramas. Nothing too dark or depressing - I want entertaining and uplifting, or at least, not something to drag me down.
Movies that have watched lately:
The Golden Door (amazing film, highly recommended)
Forgetting Sarah Marshal (yes, stupid humor is good!)
Marley & Me was a little too stupid. Entertaining, props for dog being central character, but a little too light & airy
The Reader. OK, not light and pretty depressing. But I loved it anyway.
Little Dorritt (Masterpiece Theater). Long period flicks, oh how I love thee.
The Island: oooh scifi cool movie. More of these please!
Zack and Miri make a Porno: heh, more stupid humor. I love it.
OK, that’s all I can think of at the moment. What should I watch next?
Lars and the Real Girl. Despite the premise – a lonely guy declares a blow-up doll to be his girlfriend – it’s not really a comedy, wacky or otherwise: it’s a meditation on the nature of love. Liked it a lot.
Other recommendations from here that I’ve liked: Cash Back, The Dead Girl.
Oh, and for long period flicks – Cranford, a BBC miniseries.
Once (2006) - fabulous film (don’t be put off by the notes that it’s a musical – the music enhances the story but it’s not like everyone starts dancing down the streets a la Newsies).
Let the Right One In – this one is a vampire film but it’s no Twilight or Hollywood at all – suspenseful and moving.
You could also try TV shows – we just watched Extras (the entire series) and it was funny funny funny,
I should note that it’s a movie about musicians so the songs are natural in there. The songs are supposed to be the creations of the characters in the film. Fantastic movie, one of my favorites.
The Importance of Being Earnest - version with Colin Firth Big Trouble in Little China - one of the alltime great saturday-afternoon movies. Dude, Where’s My Car? - so stupid it’s genius
memorable quote: “I have an emergency! A breakdancing stripper emergency!”
Ridicule - French with subtitles - a poor French noblemen tries to get money for his swamp-draining project by snarking his way to the top in pre-Revolutionary France.
memorable quote: “Do they have wit in England? No, they have something else… they call it ‘huuuumor’”
Demolition Man - Sandra Bullock, Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes? Somehow, it works.
memorable quote: “enhance your calm!”
Stardust - a wonderful fairy tale/fantasy movie that went unnoticed by a lot of people. But everyone I know who has seen it has really enjoyed it. It has some big names like Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Peter, O’Toole, Claire Danes, and Ricky Gervaise. It’s silly, funny, romantic, exciting, charming, and very entertaining.
If you liked *Zack & Miri Make A Porno *(we loved it!!!) you might like Role Models as well. We liked it at least…
I just watched Little Dorrit on PBS…that was a good miniseries. Have you seen Bleak House or the newer Oliver Twist? I am just growing into an appreciation for Dickens- I like him more on screen than on paper- although I appreciate the genius- movies have editors :)!
And I am not much of a cartoon/Disney fan but as dog lover’s we really enjoyed Bolt- great fun!
*Marley and Me? * Athena, trust me: Keep him FAR away from Dogs or Bros Who Die. This is why I refuse to let my old ladies at church subject me to Ol’ Yeller or Brian’s Song. One must maintain his standards.
Even if you’re not into video games, I recommend King of Kong - a surprisingly touching documentary about an ordinary dude who tries to beat the record for highest score in Donkey Kong. It’s your classic good vs. evil, root for the underdog type of story. Very funny too!
Just saw Ghost Town, which is kind of like The Sixth Sense if it were a romantic comedy. I liked it more than I thought I would. Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni star.
Trading Places is a great, great comedy; Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd rule. True Lies is the most perfect action-adventure-comedy evah; Ah-nuld stars. And Super Troopers and Hot Fuzz are IMHO the best dumb/smart cop comedies of recent years, American and British, respectively. I just about busted a gut laughing.
Breaker Morant is one of my favorite movies ever. A court-martial drama set during the Boer War; Edward Woodward stars (his best role ever, again IMHO).
For 'way cool scifi movies, try The Hidden (an alien criminal hops from body to body, leaving carnage in its wake) or Dark City (a wrongly-accused man tries to figure out why the world seems to be more than a little off-kilter). And another vote for Galaxy Quest, which is wonderful - the best Star Trek movie ever, it’s been said, even if Kirk and Spock are nowhere to be seen!
Finally, the Keira Knightley remake of Pride & Prejudice is, I’d say, the perfect mix of period romance, comedy and drama - highly, highly recommended.